Looking Out.
Looking In.
Always Edgy.

20 May 2009

Diamond in the rough

Dave, the goldsmith at Jewels in Style in Sunnyvale, looks serious when I watch him through
the glass doors of the store. He buzzes me in and peers at me with all four
eyes of the magnifying lenses over his forehead, his real eyes beady and stoned
from staring at glitter all day.

“Please sit, Mahesh will be here shortly,” he says in a
brusque manner, and goes back to the lady at the counter, his mind on the job
of carving a perfect ring for his customer whose daughter wants to have a
stunning ring designed and ordered by her mother.

At the interview about Indian-Americans directed exclusively at
Mahesh Nihalani on the premises of Jewels in Style, Dave, his business partner, get ticklish and ends up fielding random questions (pretending all the while to work, of course) intended for his friend.

Dave turns out to be a hybrid of creatures in the Panchatantra. One minute he’s a wily fox stealing lines from an
interviewee’s mouth. A half hour later, he’s roaring like a lion over
nomenclature.

“Go out there,” he says. “When they talk about Asians they
don’t include Indians. Why can’t they call you guys Indian-Americans? That’s
only fair, don’t you think?”Nihalani gently reminds him that, yes, we’re now called Indian-Americans,
no problem.

A while later Dave is monkeying around again with another
semi-precious line or two. Nihalani tells him, tongue-in-cheek, to not mess up
or the ring he’s working on will end up several sizes too big.

Are Indians model immigrants? Dave, once again, wants to get
a word in edgewise. “Uh…,” he begins what’s potentially a layered, weighty
sentence loaded with punctuation, bullet points and bullets. But Nihalani gives
him the look and turns around to answer me with a firm “Yes”.

Soon we’re talking about the cultural impact of Indian-Americans
and the Hindu temples that have come up in the area. Dave is bristly about
calling a temple a temple when it really isn’t one. For instance, the Balaji
temple on Cypress Ave in Sunnyvale isn’t a temple.

“It’s just a house, you know,” he shrugs.

But Nihalani argues for the temple priest. “Oh, no, it’s a
temple. It has all the deities. Vishnu, Shiva, Parvati…”

“No. It’s just a house.” Dave maintains.

“There’s a feeling of peace in there.” Nihalani says.

“It has a LOT of shoes outside. But it’s just a house. A
house. A house.” Dave has stopped
working and may pounce on us unless Nihalani and I agree that temples born
inside a family room are, merely, single family residences.

“He can say what he wants. But, really, he goes to the temple, I mean, the house, for the
food.” Nihalani mentions the magic word and that sticks on Dave who smiles just
at the thought of it.

“This guy’s an Indian at heart,” says Nihalani. “He loves
Indian food.”

Dave’s nod is grandiose and I can hear a “You betcha!”

“Arrey tho, Dave eats karela, bhindi, lotus root, you name it. I bring food from
home everyday. And he wants everything. All the Indian vegetables. And the
dhal. And the pickle.
Everything!”

To be entertained while picking out a rock for your friend
or lover, stop at Jewels in Style at
505, South Pastoria Ave, in Sunnyvale. Dave (who explicitly asked to be written
about when I wished to speak to his dynamic business partner) takes your money
and is a treasure trove of fun.

“I want to be
written about. Now which paper’s this thing going to come out in?”

I’m told Dave also makes excellent masala chai so ask for a
cup while selecting the stone. Diamonds are forever. But a chai is for now.